"We told every applicant we screen out tobacco users," Rick Kurtz, the department director at the time, told the School Board.

The goal, officials said, was to expand the effort to other departments.

Instead, district executive director for administration Kevin Shibley told the board this week, the initiative is all but dead. Food and nutrition director Julie Hedine was "concerned about her ability to hire with that restriction in place," he said.

What's more, assistant superintendent Ray Gadd said, the district had little ability to stop employees from starting to smoke after they were hired as non-smokers.

School Board chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong remained vigilant in her desire to increase, rather than give up, efforts to eliminate tobacco use in the schools. "Our non-smoking policy is very, very weak compared to other districts," she said.

Gadd said he supported tobacco-free campuses and would investigate the matter further. Shibley added that the district could also look into ways to make it easier to stop smoking at schools, noting that stopping employee choices at home would be a tougher road to travel.

What do you think schools should do to restrict tobacco use? How far should they go? Should they try to hire only non-smokers?

About the blog

Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.